If your mother lives closer than 7 states away (like mine does) you might wanna click over to Decatur Mom, who has put together an excellent and extensive list of Decatur-based Mother’s Day ideas.

Kelly tells us that all moms will receive a complementary glass of champagne at Tastings on Sunday.

Also, The Decatur Minute has the dish on Vivid Boutique’s Mother’s Day specials.

Any other businesses that have specials going on this weekend should feel free to post ‘em below.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!  Wanna fly down this weekend and paint the proverbial town? 

Superintendent Dr. Phyllis Edwards updates the community about yesterday’s school lockdown and gives details about proactive steps being taken to protect CSD students.

Dear CSD Parents,

Yesterday one of our bus drivers noticed a large group of students, not from our schools, coming toward the high school from the area around the MARTA station and coming up from behind where we park the buses. I have heard reports that there were anywhere from 30 to 50 students. Fortunately, a crisis was averted because of the quick thinking and action taken by our staff members and CSD?s School Resource Officer Cameron Coltharp. Around dismissal time, Officer Coltharp notified Mrs. McCain-Fernandez and Mr. Roaden that the middle school and the high School needed to be locked down.

Contrary to some rumors, there was nothing going on inside the schools. I have heard that some students inside of DHS called their parents and reported that there was an active shooter inside the school. This was not the case. Sometimes cell phones can be a lifeline however, it is important for you to talk with your children about two things in this respect; 1) cell phones in use can jam frequency for the police and first responders and 2) information given that is just conjecture causes more panic.

At no time were the students in the high school or the middle school in danger. The buildings were locked down to ensure that the group of students approaching the school did not make their way into the building as the police went after them. Therefore, students were not released until we were absolutely certain that it was safe for them to go outside.

One of the students taken into custody was determined to be in possession of some type of ammunition, but no gun was found. Taking precautionary measures, the police chief ordered in the dogs to determine if any weapons could be found on campus. Students were released after it was confirmed that there were no weapon on the grounds. Read the rest of this entry »

In an interview with WABE this morning, AJC editor Julia Wallace hints at more changes to the redesign in future months.  Here’s what stood out to me…

Over time, Wallace says the AJC will become more transparent. Alongside articles, readers will see pros and cons to issues, what sources reporters used and how you, the reader, can access the information.

It seems that someone out there is listening.  If not to me, than to someone else who’s saying something very similar.   I’ll be very interested to see how this translates onto paper and whether it will also be done online.

Regardless, this is a big step in the right direction.  Keep it up AJC.  More people, myself included, are warming up to the redesign on a daily basis.

As reported by RealClearPolitics, according to the Kaufmann Foundation Index of Entrepreneurial Activity (say that five times fast), Atlanta is the country’s most ambitious city “with nearly 200 more entrepreneurs per 100,000 people than the second runner-up.” (h/t: AJC’s BizwriterKristi)

But note that this is based on 2008 data, which includes almost months of pre-crash activity.  It will be interesting to see how Atlanta entrepreneurial activity holds up to its rivals “post-recession.”

Hopefully these scores of entrepreneurs aren’t heeding the words coming from city of Atlanta mayoral candidates, Kasim Reed and Lisa Borders, who during a recent real-estate endorsement induced euphoria exclaimed to the AJC…

“The real estate development community is to Atlanta what the financial services industry is to New York,” Reed said at a Midtown Starbucks one recent morning.

Borders, in a phone conversation, said almost the same thing: “Development is to Atlanta what cars are to Detroit and entertainment is to L.A.”

Both candidates better hope to hell that their statements aren’t true.   Tying Atlanta’s future to the real estate market seems like a sick death wish.

And why would you even mention Detroit?!

Rule 1 when running for mayor: never EVER speak the word “Detroit.”  At most you can say “Motown” and even then you better be lamenting the once great music scene.

UPDATE 2: Suspect’s name is Jonathon Redding.  Fox5 has a mugshot.

UPDATE: Fox 5 reports a 17 year-old has been arrested in connection with the Henderson murder.  (h/t: Andisheh via Twitter)

The AJC reports that Atlanta police will make an announcement at 2pm.